Black coloration is simply a genetic trait that shows up from time to time, similar to an albino. I believe the term for a black deer is "melanistic", referring to an overproduction of melanin (the compound in animals that provides pigmentation) as opposed to not producing any melanin, which is the albino trait.

Black coloration is simply a genetic trait that shows up from time to time, similar to an albino. I believe the term for a black deer is "melanistic", referring to an overproduction of melanin (the compound in animals that provides pigmentation) as opposed to not producing any melanin, which is the albino trait.

You are correct. There is a (brief) article about this in the Oct issue of D&DH.

I got this picture off another hunting website. I'd love to see a buck like this, or even bigger when I was hunting.

Jim

i illed an 8 pointer a few years ago that we had seen a few times before the season came in that was almost as dark as this one ( not quite ) the only white he had on him anywhere was a little spot under his tail and it was more grey than white , was weird looking but beautiful at the same time ! unfortunatly i made a marginal shot on him and had to wait till morning to track him , by the time we got their and found him shortly after daylight , the coyoted had already found him and destroyed him , was going to try to save enough for a shoulder mount but as soon as we started messing with him we were covered in ants , they were everywhere on him , only thing we got was a few pics and they didnt do him justice

Those are all really cool pictures. I don't know what I would do if they walked up to my stand. Part of me would want to take them and tan the hide, but the other half says to let him/her go to reproduce.

Lord, let my arrow fly true, make this a swift and humane kill, Save him from any suffering.

Black deer are rare, more so than piebald or albinos. They are known as melanistic which means their bodies produce far too much of the pigment known as melanin which makes them much darker than your average whitetail.

Tree hugging is okay, as long as you are climbing up to your tree stand